FÆRM

“Everyone said it couldn’t be done. But two young entrepreneurs and their team have succeeded in developing a technique to make plant-based cheese that’s making many people sit up and take notice.” We recently sat down with Danish outlet Politiken to share the story of what we set out to do with FÆRM, how our method evolved, and the potential it holds. From experimenting with blended and fermented nuts to transforming an old karate club in Vanløse into our first lab, and hiring a team of biochemists, biotechnologists, and dairy engineers — the article covers how our solution was developed, not only helping dairy producers innovate but also making a significant, positive impact on both people and the planet. “We’ve found that the best way we can work with the industry is by helping them make better plant-based cheese. The advantage is that our technology can run on standard dairy equipment since it mirrors traditional processes,” says Mikkel Lau Dupont. Thank you, Mette Mølbak, for the great conversation and for sharing our story. Read the full article through the link in the comments!

We always love a good "Mmmmh". We recently had a visit from the Dansk Vegetarisk Forening (DVF) - Vegetarian Society of Denmark (DVF) (the Danish Vegetarian Association) at our HQ to discuss what challenges startups in the plant-based field face 🌱 DVF is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting vegetarianism and veganism. They are currently working on a new series format about the challenges startups in the plant-based space face. While companies working in the traditional meat and dairy industries receive substantial government support, businesses focusing on veganism and vegetarianism often struggle to compete without similar backing — often resulting in more expensive products than the meat/dairy counterpart. What struggles do Danish startups encounter? And what would they like to see from policymakers? These, and other challenges, were discussed when we got together with the DVF team. And of course, Martin Keller got to taste our cream cheese. DVF made a nice video about their visit. Watch it through the link in the comments 👀

LOOK! We’re on TV! 😍 Tonight at 18:00 on DR1 (or right now on DR TV), Danes can learn (almost) everything there is to know about FÆRM, our journey, and why we do what we do. For the past few months, we’ve worked with DR - Danmarks Radio to make an episode for the Danish docuseries ‘Jorden Kalder’ (in English: Earth Calling) about the environmental benefits of making cheese and milk substitutes from plant proteins. We love how DR takes a positive and solution-oriented spin on the need to act on the climate crisis. Let’s spend less time pointing out each other’s mistakes and instead present each other with solutions for lessening our businesses’ impact on the environment. Check out the comments for a direct link to the docuseries.

Sneak peek from the FÆRM lab 👀 Just look at these 100% plant curds. They’re made with an enzyme that makes the protein and fat in soy milk separate from the whey — a very important step if you want to make vegan cheese-like products. Actually, it’s the exact same thing you do when you make regular cheese — just using dairy milk. In this video, you see one of the prototypes that we’ve developed using our patented technology. Now we just need to press out excess whey, add some good bacteria and store the curds for maturation 🧀 We have already developed prototypes for vegan mozzarella, cheddar, cream cheese, and camembert-like cheeses — and we are working on more every day!

At FÆRM, our workday starts at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. every day. No weekend emails, no late-night data crunching. “We’re not just focused on sustainability in our products but in how we treat our team every day,” said Andrea and Mikkel in a recent interview with IDA. “It’s about creating a space where we can all bring our best selves to work without burning out.” Thank you, IDA, for featuring our approach to well-being and work-life balance! You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dY337TM5

A new era in our product analysis has kicked off! Thanks to our partnership with BioInnovation Institute, we have used GC/MS technology since June this year. The GC/MS machine (the one you see in the pictures below) allows us to analyze our cheese prototypes and compare them to dairy cheese in terms of composition, taste, and flavor. Basically, it's like an automated taste test — the technology investigates the taste notes and tells us how close we are to the dairy version of the cheese. This means we can compare our prototypes to dairy cheese in a data-driven way and get even closer to achieving the ‘real’ taste. It takes about 45 minutes to assess one sample - but with the number of prototypes we're cranking out, we’re already impatient! 😉

Who should we speak to about plant-based cheese in the Netherlands? 🇳🇱 The Dutch people love plant-based meat alternatives — the country is a real pioneer in the area. However, the consumption of vegan cheese alternatives is falling behind other vegan food categories. We want to help change that. Andrea and Mikkel recently spoke to FoodAgribusiness about our technology and our search for new partners to introduce new plant-based cheese alternatives — products that are made the exact same way as conventional cheese 🧀 No coconut oil. No modified starch. We’re not gonna hold it back — developing a Gouda substitute would be fantastic 😍 Let us know who you think we should speak to, to make it happen! You can read the Food&Agribusiness interview here: https://lnkd.in/dFQPye3U

Louise Almer is our Product Developer and Microbiologist Expert, and we have been lucky to work alongside her since April 2023. With a background as an engineer in biotechnology, Louise is in charge of ensuring our cheeses taste 'grate' as well as improving shelf life. Moreover, she continuously researches and tests ingredients and their interactions with each other in order to achieve the best products possible. Did we mention she's responsible for food safety too? She identifies bacteria using phenotypic and genotypic methods such as culturing and sequencing, finding the best conditions to create cheesy flavor and texture. In simpler words, Louise looks after the quality of our products and how we can prevent bad bacteria from growing on them. When we first met Louise in 2022, she was already making mozzarella in her own kitchen 🧀 But, even though we REALLY wanted to, we weren’t able to hire her. She was the first person we called when we received support from @Bioinnovation Institute and, as it turns out, she had been thinking about us as much as we had been thinking about her 🥰 #FÆRM #ProductDevelopment #Microbiology #FoodSafety #Innovatio

If you have good hearing…. …listen to our CEO Andrea explaining why we make our cheese the way we do. If you don't speak Danish, we’ve made sure to write — in very simple subtitles — why we think it makes so much sense to treat plant proteins the same as milk when making non-dairy products. The simple steps for our products are: 🥛 Curdle the plant based protein with enzymes 💧 Press out excess whey 🦠 Add bacteria 🧀 Wait for it to mature and develop a nice cheesy taste

Now that you’re just sitting there, enjoying the summer… Why not spend 30 seconds revisiting the time we cooked up a delicious plant-based brie in our lab? 💖 What’s the next “cheese” we should make in our lab? Let us know in the comments!